


The Overnight

by tnnyoh



Series: Ghost Stories of Gotham [1]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Ghost Stories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 22:33:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10706517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tnnyoh/pseuds/tnnyoh
Summary: Oswald believes in Ghosts, Jim doesn't.  This makes it a problem when they team up to investigate an old mansion.





	The Overnight

The car tires crunched over dry leaves as it came to a stop "We're here" Jim said, pulling the key out of the ignition, Oswald leaned over from the back seat and stuck his finger against the front window  
"There!" He said "Right up there is where I saw it" he was pointing in the direction of an upper level room in the old building  
Jim sighed and shook his head "I don't know why I'm trusting you on this, Oswald" He caught Oswald's expression in the drivers mirror, it was one of of offense and rejection "Have I ever lied to you before Jim?"  
Jim thought back on this, had Oswald ever lied to him? There was all that business with him not telling Jim about Galavan and his true intentions, but Jim couldn't count that as a malicious lie as Oswald was only trying to protect his mother. "No" Jim said, finally  
"Because you are my friend, Jim. I would never lie to friends"  
  
"Oswald, for the last time" Jim heaved another sigh "You know what? Never mind. Just get out of the car"  
Oswald opened the passenger door and stepped out into the night air, the slight breeze gently blowing his hair, Jim shut the drivers seat door and looked upwards at the old mansion, One of Gotham's oldest buildings, it was the subject of constant stories of ghosts and mysteries, Jim never believed any of that nonsense and unfortunately for him tonight, Oswald did. "Now tell me again, what did you see?" Jim asked

  
Oswald hobbled up to him, the sound of his cane hitting the ground "I think it was a ghost, Jim" He said in a matter of fact tone

  
Jim responded to this with an incredulous look "A ghost?" He rolled his eyes "Oswald, you know ghosts aren't real, right?"

  
Oswald huffed, "I've been told that, but I know what I saw"  
"Ghosts aren't possible, Oswald" Jim began, he started to walk up the path to the mansion, a bit of an upward decline, Oswald followed with some difficulty  
"Jim" Oswald began "I would think someone of your intelligence would be able to admit that sometimes the impossible isn't all that impossible. People have come back to life in Gotham, children have turned to adults, men have to be killed twice before they will actually die. You're telling me that after everything you've seen, GHOSTS is where you draw the line?"  
Jim sighed, Oswald had a point but he wasn't about to tell him that so he remained quiet as they walked up the broken stone path, Jim noticed Oswald limping a little more than he usually did "You alright there with your leg Oswald?" He asked, he may not particularly care for Oswald's company on any given day, but it was a long winding path up to the mansion with much of it overcome with plants and debris.

  
Oswald gave Jim a look of surprise "I... yeah" he answered, his voice hesitating a little bit - as though he hadn't been asked about his own well being before "Yeah, it's fine"  
They approached the front door and Oswald crouched down to press his ear to the aged wood "Uh" Jim said uneasily "Oswald, what are you doing?"  
Oswald turned to Jim with an unreadable expression "I'm... listening." He turned back to the door  
Jim exhaled, he almost didn't want to ask but he couldn't help himself "Listening for what?"  
Oswald rose to his feet and clasped his hands together, he tapped his cane against the door "Obviously, I'm listening for anyone who is inside, You know, for a detective, you're not very good at deductive reasoning"  
  
Jim rolled his eyes and pushed past to the door, he twisted the knob and to his surprise, the door was already unlocked. He walked slowly, alert into the entrance, Oswald behind him. "Why is this already unlocked?" He turned around and looked at his pale companion "Oswald, I swear that I will have every GCPD officer pinning you down on the ground if you are setting me up!" He hissed  
"Jim" Oswald said, a hurt expression on his face "I am wounded that you would think that I am the type of person to mess with you that way"  
"I know that you are, you've done it before... Dragging me out to the middle of nowhere to investigate something that didn't happen?" He sighed heavily "Harv was right, this is stupid, I'm getting out of here"  
  
The door slammed behind them, causing them both to jump and Oswald to drop his cane.  
Jim turned around to struggle with the door, only to find out it wasn't turning "Oh you've gotta be kidding me, It won't open."  
"See Jim? I told you this place was haunted" He retrieved his cane from the floor as a scream sounded from above them. Oswald and Jim shared a look "What the hell was that?" Jim said  
"Ghosts" Oswald hissed "I don't want to be here" He turned to the door and tried to wrench it open  
"I already tried that, Oswald. And will you knock it off with the ghost talk, Ghosts aren't real!" Oswald didn't give up pulling on the door handle "Yes, people keep telling me that, But, we just heard a scream in an abandoned building and I noticed YOU aren't rushing to go check it out"  
Jim rubbed his temple "Uhh, yeah... I left my gun in the car"  
  
Oswald gave him an incredulous look "Are you an idiot!?"  
Jim ignored this and crossed over to the window "Maybe I can try to get this open" He tried opening it when the scream sounded again  
Oswald made a horrible gasp of fear and tried busting the door down with his shoulder, Jim grabbed him by the arm "Oswald, don't do that. You're small enough that it's more likely to break YOU than the door" Oswald gave him a glare  
  
"I'm going upstairs to check that out" He indicated the ceiling with his thumb "And you're coming with me" He said, not letting go of Oswald's arm  
He dragged him over to the staircase "Jim!" He said, his voice nearly breaking "I don't want to die here" Jim closed his eyes and sighed "Just stay behind me and stop it with the ghost talk" The pair started to walk up the stairs and when they got to the landing they heard the scream again, Oswald tried to turn back to the stairs but Jim grabbed him by his jacket "Nuh uh" He steered Oswald around "The scream is coming from the end of the hall" He noted, They slowly walked to the end of the hall, Oswald clutched his cane a little harder than he normally did, ready to swing it if he had to, although Jim wondered what good that would do against a ghost.  
  
They were in front of the room that the screams were imitating from and Jim tried to turn the knob, it wasn't budging, Oswald winced "Jim" He hissed "What about the ghosts?" Jim restrained himself from throwing Oswald into the door and said "Oswald, I'm going to break this door down, ghosts or no ghosts" He put some space between him and the door and then shoved his shoulder against it, He stumbled into the room to find a woman clutching against her robe in the corner "GCPD" He said, flashing his badge "Why were you screaming up here, Ma'am?"  
"The rat!" she said, a hint of an accent "There is a large rat in this room and I cannot leave!"  
  
Oswald stayed out in the hall but leaned into the room  
"I don't see a rat" He said, Jim looked around and on the other side of the room there was a small stuffed animal, he approached it and picked it up, turning the woman "This... is the rat?"  
"Yes! Don't touch him! He will eat you right up for dinner"  
Oswald suppressed a laugh and looked at the woman "Hello Miss, I wanted to ask you, Have you ever heard of Arkham?"  
Jim shot him a look and shook his head "I think I would have preferred ghosts to this"


End file.
